Publisher's Summary

The must-have prequel novel to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - the upcoming film, set before the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, that reveals the untold story of the rebel effort to steal the plans to the Death Star!

James Luceno *breathes* quality. That is to say the man has gotten to the point in terms of who he is as a person and his writing style where quality comes as easy to him as breathing. He is a masterful wordsmith, and Catalyst is by far his best work in my opinion. I can't wait for his next works in the Star Wars universe :) This novel was enrapturing and engaging, and so incredibly cinematic. Galen and Krennic leapt of the Page and once again, Luceno proves that he knows how Star Wars stories are told - with grandeur, with heart, and with a sense of being transported to another time and place whilst still being grounded. Catalyst is suspenseful, world-building magic, and it is *absolutely* required reading before seeing Rogue One!

This is a good (not great) story bogged down in overly long details, lengthy tech-babble and a dull voice/narrator that makes it hard to enjoy. It needed more voices. A few great characters and places feature in here which will delight SW fans as it did for me. It raises some fantastic idea's and hints at some fun stuff..but that's all it really does. If it's sole purpose is to set up the stage for Rogue One then fine..It's just not enough on its own. Wouldn't recommend as a standalone story at all.

What did you like best about Catalyst (Star Wars)? What did you like least?

The performance is well done, the sound effects as always are excellent

Would you ever listen to anything by James Luceno again?

perhaps

What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Yes. His performance was excellent

Was Catalyst (Star Wars) worth the listening time?

Not really

Any additional comments?

Overall a great performance of a rather boring story. The characters were uninteresting and the story revolved around the creation of the laser. All the potentially interesting parts of the story such as any battles or behind the scenes politics were removed with the focus being essentially on ones man and his research.

I own 5 books written by James Luceno. I was surprised that this one was so dull.

What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He's one of the best. I have several of his books and he always does a great job of making the characters distinguishable and fun to listen to.

Any additional comments?

Honestly, this is a story that could be summed up in a few minutes. I own nearly every Star Wars book that audible offers. I appreciate a good back story as much as the next guy...but this was just a long drawn out story with no action. I was disappointed that nothing ever really happened.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

cpmedic

27/11/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Storyline was very boring and drawn out."

The storyline was very slow and drawn out. I am a huge Star Wars fan but did not care for this story at all. It was a very boring book.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

John A. Chad

Michigan

29/11/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"A while Lotta nothing."

This wasn't a bad book, but it was about nearly nothing. Decent character development and an OK flow, just I did not find it interesting at all. James Lucerno wrote my absolute favorite Star Wars book ever, Darth Plagius, but this one seemed like it was a concept pushed on him to act as backstory to the Rogue One movie.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Alejandro Rengifo

1/12/16

Overall

"A must read before seeing Rogue One"

My first audio book experience could not have been any better. The narration and imagery was as if I was watching a Star Wars movie

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Acts238preacher

18/11/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"What a Story!"

James Luceno does a great job of weaving lines between the books Tarkin, Lords of the Sith, and the show Clone Wars and filling in gaps. I do have questions concerning the crystals and the timeline of the Death Star, but those are trivial. The story is told well. Mr. Davis always does an amazing job with voices, tone and inflection.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

David Probus

21/11/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Awesome Story!"

What did you love best about Catalyst (Star Wars)?

My favorite part of this novel is the interaction between Tarkin and Krennic. Orson Krennic is a snake who even tries to manipulate and betray fellow Imperial Officers.

What other book might you compare Catalyst (Star Wars) to and why?

I would say Tarkin would be the one I could compare it with. It isn't just like the book, but James Luceno wrote that novel as well. You can really hear Tarkin coming out in these books.

What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does a great job at making a definite distinction between the character voices. That can be a difficult thing to accomplish well. I could see actors that we know are going to be in Rogue One when he did those characters.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely! That would be a serious session at 11 hours and some change. It was one that I really looked forward to listening to. I finished it about as fast as I did Bloodline, and that was another Star Wars novel I didn't want to stop listening to.

Any additional comments?

This isn't an essential novel for Rogue One, but it will absolutely enhance the movie going experience. Especially, since I know what all took place leading up to the events in the movie. It also enriches the experience when one watches A New Hope. That backstory makes one think deeper about the events in the original trilogy.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Pastor J

2/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Good to meet a new family!"

Excellent writing and performance. Great story in preparation for the new film! Started off a little slow and at times seemed verbose. However very important information regarding Khyber crystals and other important plot points. Also it was good to meet the Erso family and other new characters, as well as the connections to existing characters such as Tarkin.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

IGE

2/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"love it..great reader"

love the story and can not wait to see the movie. Jonathan Davis was fantastic!!! my favorite reader..hope he will do more star wars stories in the future

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Kevin Marano

2/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"This is what a SW novel is!"

These post Disney books have been horrendous to date. Fortunately, Disney must have had a moment of clarity and teamed again with Luceno and Davis to release a Star Wars masterpiece! Luceno is absolutely impeccable at created parallel story lines! He has done it again. Perfectly perfectly molded Catalyst into the SW timeline and brought back so much of what we've been missing in the realm of SE novels. And having Davis narrate only added to this great story! Well done!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

2/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Best new canon book yet."

This book and the performance are amazing. Hands down the best new Canon book written. Sooooo much better than the awful Aftermath series. Hire Luceno to do more Star Wars! He's right up there with Zahn!!!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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Chris Gordon

UK

16/11/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Fantastic prequel brilliantly delivered"

Very happy I bought this. I had listened to one of the x Wing series and disappointed. That cannot be said for this. The story is brilliant and leads up to Rogue One. Now when I watch it I'll have that backstory understanding. Unlike some, this is brilliantly read and produced and has me gripped. Highly recommend this!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

The builder

19/11/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Ok, not great but OK."

The book is meant to be the backstory behind the new film rogue one, it definitely does that. It introduces all the characters and their back stories, but it's main story line is a bit weak.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

8/12/16

Overall

"Great Narration"

This is my first Star Wars novel and I loved it. It has made me more eager for the movie , if that was possible. Jonathan Banks did a great job with the narration.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

AlexB

8/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Painfully drawn-out backstory"

What disappointed you about Catalyst (Star Wars)?

A brief story drawn out into 12 painfully long hours

Would you ever listen to anything by James Luceno again?

Not likely

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Jonathan Davis?

No issues with JD, but rather all the ridiculous background noises.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Victor

7/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"bloody fantastic"

fantastic must listen before seeing rogue one highly recommended........by me.............what you waiting for do it now

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Aaron

7/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"A long listen for very little..."

Great performance as always from the cast yet it feels that the story is lacking. This seems to be a trend with the new wave of Star Wars books - a long listen for very little. While it provides a useful background to the upcoming film many of the characters involved lack depth / personality. The crux of the story could have been told in half the time with a far richer set of character development. Perhaps after the film it will make more sense? Would be very disappointed if I had paid full price for this book.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

jonathan

7/12/16

Overall

"Not Good"

Confusing and hard to follow. Felt myself losing interest throughout and when I would start to get interested Id get confused again. Only reason I gave it a star was I enjoyed the sound effects.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

B F.

7/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Very worth the while "

Finally! A star wars book I like! I usually find them awful but this one is a good'un.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

scott - hamilton

6/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Best Star Wars book by miles."

The narration was first class. Great range of voices. Great characters and story. Sets Rogue One up beautifully. Now for my next book. ...

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Jonathan Clydesdale

6/12/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Disappointed"

Normally love the star wars books, just felt like this story lacked substance. There was no real point to the story. If you already know the concept of rouge one then u don't feel that this story expanded on that very well. Extremely disappointed.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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